WATCH: SBM Offshore FPSO destined for ExxonMobil’s fourth oil project off Guyana leaves drydock

Dutch FPSO operator SBM Offshore has revealed that a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will work on ExxonMobil’s fourth oil project in the Stabroek block off the coast of Guyana, recently left drydock and arrived along the quayside at the Seatrium yard in Singapore.

The construction of topside modules for the FPSO One Guyana started in September 2022 with two steel strike ceremonies held in both Keppel FELS and Dyna-Mac yards to mark the occasion. Constructed for ExxonMobil Guyana, the FPSO is set to join three other SBM Offshore-operated FPSOs – Liza Destiny, Liza Unity, and Prosperity – in Guyanese waters in 2025.

Building upon the success of its predecessors, the design of the FPSO One Guyana incorporates the Dutch player’s Fast4Ward program. This FPSO will be used for the fourth development within the Stabroek block, called the Yellowtail development project, which comprises six drill centers and up to 26 production and 25 injection wells.

ExxonMobil sanctioned the project in April 2022 and followed it up with a contract confirmation with SBM Offshore for the supply of the FPSO. This vessel entered drydock in March 2023 at the Keppel yard in Singapore. The FPSO will perform produced water treatment functions as well as oil separation and gas injection.

The FPSO One Guyana will have an optimum production capacity of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, a storage capacity of 2 million barrels of crude oil, a gas treatment capacity of 450 million ft³ a day, and a water injection capacity of 300,000 bpd.

“With impressive gas treatment and water injection capacities,” SBM Offshore claims that the FPSO One Guyana is ready to make “a significant impact in offshore operations” and has been designed to be anchored in water depths of around 1,800 meters.

The operator of the Yellowtail project is ExxonMobil Guyana Limited, which holds 45% interest while its partners, Hess Guyana Exploration and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited, hold 30% and 25% interest, respectively.

ExxonMobil plans to have six FPSOs on the Stabroek block by year-end 2027, with the potential for up to ten FPSOs to develop the estimated gross discovered recoverable resources of more than 11 billion barrels of oil equivalent.